Animal Groups Writing with Rubric Freebie and Legally Blonde

I have been off the radar for the past couple of weeks! You are just going to have to hang with me while I tell you what I have been doing the past couple of weeks. The freebie is below. I have been helping my daughter's high school drama program with the musical Legally Blonde. This is my daughter Olivia's last show with the Page Playmakers. It was a bittersweet moment on Saturday when the curtain closed for the last time. My daughter Emily also went through the same program. Our whole family has been involved with this program for seven years! My husband has built light towers and sets and I have created and designed costumes. It has been one of the great joys of our lives. We have had the opportunity to get to know Olivia and Emily's friends and to make some great friends ourselves. I can tell you from first hand experience that there are wonderful teenagers in our world! I love all the kids I have worked with. I found out they need the same things first graders need: hugs, encouragement and adults that care for them.

One of the favorite numbers from this show is Bend and Snap check out the Broadway version and put some snap into your day!

My first graders have been busy learning about living organisms. We are writing a fact book as a take home project but it can be used as a class project as well. We went to Lazy Five Ranch for a field trip. This place is amazing! You ride around in a wagon pulled by beautiful horses and you get to feed and view the animals up close and way personal! Why even one buffalo took a liking to me and licked my leg. Oooooooo but cool at the same time.This is a picture of one of my sweet little boys feeding a buffalo. If you are ever in North Carolina be sure to check it out. I always love visiting Lazy Five!


You can get The Animal Groups Fact Book here on Google Drive. I am really working on getting my first graders to use their brains when writing. The rubric has a place for the children to draw a smiley face if they used their own brains and not their moms and dads or shh....Google! We have been learning so much about animals it would be a shame, shame to get the information from someone else. The book is two pages back to front and the children write about six different animal groups.
Sorry for the long post but I wanted to tell you all what I have been up to! I was just savoring these last days of high school with my daughter. She is off to college in the fall! Thanks for sticking with me. There are more freebies on the way!